C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Makes New Investment in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 7,133.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 960,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $694,670,000 after purchasing an additional 947,011 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $60,445,000. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd now owns 1,574,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,925,000 after purchasing an additional 223,790 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameren by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,289,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,335,838,000 after purchasing an additional 180,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stack Financial Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Ameren during the fourth quarter worth $11,438,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AEE has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameren from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays raised shares of Ameren from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ameren from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameren has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameren news, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of Ameren stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $981,520.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.53, for a total value of $302,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,318,410.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rafael Flores sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.29, for a total transaction of $106,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,768 shares in the company, valued at $981,520.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ameren Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AEE traded up $1.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $73.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,735,098. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a 12-month low of $67.03 and a 12-month high of $88.72.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ameren Co. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 12th. Ameren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.61%.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.